Thursday, September 13, 2018

all quiet on the western front

Charlie never ceases to amaze me. Really truly, he is a one of a kind horse. Just incredible. Lol.

You all remember: last winter my beloved brontosaurus found a 4" roofing nail with his seemingly magnetic hooves. While he very fortunately avoided serious injury to any of the many delicate structures inside the hoof, he still ended up abscessing quite pitifully 5 days later.

erry day
So when he punctured that very same hoof yet again a couple weeks ago (this time on a piece of godforsaken mulch... ugh... #neverforget), I kinda had something like a "5 day countdown" going on in my mind. Like, if he was still fine after 5 days, we were probably in the clear, right?

Haha. Hahahahaha. Wrong.

when yo horse so lame you don't even need a video or gif....
Bc apparently, while on the seventh day Charlie rested.... On the eighth day that sucker FINALLY abscessed. Ugh.

Like it was undogly hot out and Charlie had just had the day prior off after our baller hunter pace.... so all I wanted to do was groom him and tell him he was pretty and go wander around the woods a little bit... But he seemed a little funny stepping out of the cross ties toward the mounting block (which is literally three steps away). And then was definitely funny stepping away from the mounting block. Sigh....

this was..... a fail.
I guess the idea that Charlie would pass up such a ripe opportunity to abscess really was too good to be true. Oh well. As it turned out, the weather was brutally hot all week anyway so I mostly just spent my time with him trying to cool him off and get him comfortable. 

This included some soaking and some treatment of the hoof.... tho my grand idea for using soaking bags instead of a bucket was a MAJOR fail. These things might be great for like, white lightning or whatever when what you're really working with is gas. But for trying to fully submerge a hoof, esp when the area of interest is in the heel? Yea, nope. Did not work. Will not try again lol.

"wow shit sucks tho!" - charlie, probably
Anyway the abscess meant that we missed our much anticipated clinic with Ralph Hill, but you already knew that. And honestly I had already started reconciling myself to that fate from the moment I pulled the mulch dagger out of Charlie's frog. It felt like a foregone conclusion from the very start.

Oh well, that's just kinda how it goes with this horse sometimes. And meanwhile, Charlie got to spend some quality time in a barn yard paddock when he was too sore to make the trek out to the big pasture. Poor guy. Tho to be honest, while sometimes I wish he would toughen up, it's nice to know he will 100% tell me when he doesn't feel well or doesn't want to go into the big field. Considering he loves his turnout, it means something when he's like, "Yea, no thanks!"

somebody call peta, this horse is clearly neglected!
Luckily tho, he's been steadily improving. Last time we had this whole snafu, Charlie managed to take off the shoe of his other supporting hind limb. Which only exacerbated his overall discomfort from compensating for the punctured hoof, and he ended up abscessing in that other hind too. 

This time around, Charlie got his feet done actually the very next day after the Mulch Incident. So all his shoes have been on nice and tight, and his support limbs have been able to stand up to the task of compensation. Phew! So a week later, instead of dealing with a worsening situation as other hooves succumbed... instead, now Charlie seems pretty much back to normal.

in fairness, i *did* buy him for his fabio-worthy locks.... careful what you wish for!
Like I'll never not be paranoid tho. Obvi. The weather has been wreaking havoc on all the horses. We went from brutally oppressive heat to inches upon inches upon inches of rain literally overnight. And all the horses have their winter coats beginning to fluff up. The combined effect of all this being: Skin. Funk. Every. Where. Ugh.

So the skin funk, combined with Charlie being sore and not moving, combined with heat during the day time hours he spends stalled.... All this means that when I see him in the evenings, I do not love the look of his legs. I mean realistically I know it's pretty hard to blow all four suspensories all at once when it's 99* out and the horses aren't doing shit else except stamping flies. But like, you know what I'm talking about haha.

"Fascinating." - charlie, probably
Luckily tho, the horse has been pretty consistently sound the last couple of days so I finally climbed back aboard for our first few rides. Mostly just walking on the buckle. Wandering around the dressage arena, picking our track one stride at a time, aiming for a leaf here, a hoof print there. Not sticking to any predetermined patterns while also being very precise in exactly where I want Charlie to put his feet.

he's a dapper dude
It's a nice simple exercise bc it keeps the horse and rider engaged with each other. And also keeps the horse shockingly well in front of my leg, since I'm telling him literally every single step where to go, he gets really keyed in.

But it's also simultaneously really relaxing. And Charlie likes to stretch down like a friggin bloodhound as we go. I did a little bit of trot in the same manner our first ride back and he honestly felt like a million bucks. Charlie is not a horse that will stretch like that if he doesn't feel good, so that's always a really positive sign.

but hey, at least it's football season, amirite??
And the next ride we even did a little bit of canter, plus just a little smidge of work actually on the bit instead of on the buckle. And Charlie felt good. So ya know. Hopefully the Mulchpocolypse saga of 2018 is finally behind us.

Just in time for another week of extreme rain. Tho I'm not complaining about in the slightest - our neighbors to the south will have so much more to contend with, so all I'm hoping for is that everyone stays safe through the impending storm. And in the meantime, Charlie and I will probably just be lyin a little bit low.

31 comments:

  1. Ah Charlie, he is reliable in getting dinged up! I'm so pleased he is feeling better in all ways again. I hope you don't get too wet!

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    1. Thanks ! I’m relieved he’s better too. And while it’s a shame we missed the clinic, the timing for this little break honestly was otherwise pretty good

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  2. i see the time off left you free to work on your photoshop skills. which have been improving, btw. can i get a spicy photoshop???

    and that solorake results looks awesome! i might get one for my BO. her horse has a neck as long as charlies and about 2 horses worth of mane.

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    1. The solorake is good for thinning but the length adjustment honestly came from scissors. #sorrynotsorry

      And yes. I can work my MS Paint magic on Spicy. Haha. Just you wait! Hahaha. Muahahaha.

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  3. ohh love Charlie's mane now! Wanna come out to TN to do Remus? Yeah I thought not (Remus's mane is creeping to mustang length).

    stay dry and safe!!

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    1. Oh man the mustang mane look.... it kills me that these names just keep growing and growing LOL! Seriously tho, I used the rake to thin the mane but then scissors to trim. It still needs a good pull to really get the volume under control but... ain’t nobody got time to pull a mane that’s 4’+ from poll to wither!!!!

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  4. Ahahaha that picture is amazing!

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    1. Lol when inspiration strikes, amirite?? Haha....

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  5. Awww, man, he really does keep you on your toes, though!

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  6. CHARLIE!!!!! At least your well prepared for this crap! This weather has been the worst. Scout is the kind of horse whose legs blow up if he's stalled and I was not shocked after limited turnout to find him with giant hind legs. He was sound, but they looked scary!

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    1. ugh yea the giant legs thing.... like. i am a rational person. i understand that charlie, esp with his high mileage legs, can fill up a little bit under certain conditions - esp when i'm seeing him after he's been stalled for 8 hrs. but damn, i'm never happy to see a big leg. luckily his go back to being perfectly tight even after just light riding or turnout!

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  7. Soaking an abscess in a bag seems like horse abuse tbh. --Anonymous

    Also every time I see that glorious photoshop I think about where in my house I could frame it for best effect.

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    1. lololol charlie gets ALL THE ABUSE around here, poor pone!!

      and yea lol, one of these days i will definitely have to create some sort of photo gallery of all these wonderful charlie 'shops haha

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  8. Oh Charlie. There's just really nothing to say except Oh Charlie lol. At least all his other shoes are on tight and he's really starting to feel better! I'm glad you're able to ride him around a bit!

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    1. yup he's recovered and back to work, with all four shoes are on tight - he didn't lose any shoes this time around.

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  9. Sounds like the Mulchpocolypse is behind you! Henry can be a bit delicate as well and it's really made me appreciate how sensible he is after time off, as adult ammies there is going to be lengths of time off for one reason or another and some horses cannot handle it. Another thing to be grateful for with Charlie (who came back into work on the buckle - gotta love that!) :)

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    1. oh man, agreed 1000% about appreciating the sensible ponies!! charlie has proven time and time again that he can come back from time off like he never missed a beat -- and it's a big reason why i'm slowly able to be a little less panicky (a little haha) whenever something happens to him.

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  10. He really IS quite a dapper fellow. Stay sound Charlie, pleaseeeee!

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  11. Oh Charlie... you're such a pro at all these things now (silver lining)? Those fragile OTTBs. How would they ever get along without us?

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    1. lol charlie would definitely get eaten by the lions haha

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  12. Ahh. I figured it was an abscess. Oh Charlie.....

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    1. it really did feel inevitable, didn't it lol

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  13. OMG that last picture had me laughing out loud! Glad Charlie is on the mend. Just in time for football season, lol

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    1. lol i mayyyyyyybe had a just a litttttle too much fun making that picture! if only it could have helped joe out a little more last night tho, ugh

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  14. man the horse stuff just like to compound like interest right

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  15. Hey Guys
    Here are the full dressage results, team and individual, with all the scores, from WEG 2018.
    As well as the team, and individual, eventing standing after the dressage.
    Dressage
    http://clear-round.com/index.php/2018/09/13/dressage-results-from-weg-2018/
    Eventing
    http://clear-round.com/index.php/2018/09/13/eventing-results-from-weg-2018/
    Enjoy
    Dave

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  16. Hey Guys
    Eventing results from WEG 2018
    Here are the top 20 individual standings, and the top 10 team standings, after the cross country at WEG yesterday
    http://clear-round.com/index.php/2018/09/13/eventing-results-from-weg-2018/
    Please drop me a mail if you’re not enjoying these comments, I really don’t want to make a nuisance of myself  clearround365@gmail.com
    Enjoy
    Dave

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  17. Hey! His mane looks great! very jumper-y. Did the rake work ok?

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  18. Hi Guys
    Here are the final results for the Eventing at WEG 2018

    Ingrid Klimke's one rail down in the showjumping cost her and Germany dearly, and open the way for young Rosalind Canter and Team GBR. Here are the top 20 individual results and the top 10 team results in the Eventing at WEG 2018
    http://clear-round.com/index.php/2018/09/13/eventing-results-from-weg-2018/

    Enjoy
    Dave

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